Everything I can remember back to my very first memories, have to do with creating and color. I was very blessed to have been raised by an extremely artistic and expressive mother. She always encouraged my younger brother and I to see things with imaginative minds. I know her influence on me growing up was a huge component of why I see art in everything I do today.
In my life I been dabbled with almost every kind of art I could find. From acting to metals, choir to watercolor, wood burning to glass etching, painting to charcoal, wood working to chalk murals,...I think you get the point. So when I finally switched to a major in painting at Wayne State University in Detroit I really thought I had it figured out.
Then one day I realized I wasn't feeling fulfilled. I loved art and was excited to create something everyday but I had been putting so much pressure on myself to be the kind of artist I wasn't. I can produce stunning, realistic, large paintings on canvas to get into gallery shows, but that's not what makes me happy. Then I asked myself, "what does make me happy?"
One day I was spending some time painting random things around the house when I found a wine bottle, I thought WHAT A CUTE IDEA I WILL PAINT THIS WINE BOTTLE! My mind exploded with so many wonderful ideas for painting this simple piece of recycling I had just laying around. I made sports themed bottles, cute animal cartoon bottles, I even started posting them on Facebook and sure enough people had the same reaction as I did....HOW CUTE!
Once I started to realize I could make money selling my wine bottles I really got inspired. I started understanding that I loved working on non conventional surfaces. I painted benches, cigar boxes, rocks, and raw pieces of wood. It took me a while to give up the idea that I needed to be a gallery artist to be successful because that's what school had taught me. Opening up my ETSY SHOP was my next adventure. It is still a work in progress but I LOVE working on it every day. Listening to new YouTube videos on how to improve my photos or captions.
I want to hear your stories on how you found the Art you LOVE! Haven't found it yet?
WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR GET GOING AND FIND HAPPINESS!!!
Samantha Menzo
Art and creating and crafting have always been apart of my life. My father and mother are both very talented in there different genres (wood carver, boat builder, miniature sculptures, sewing, doll making, gardening, drawing, cooking, singing, dancing, playing instruments,) and I was always encouraged to do them all. Imagination was a huge part of that and they too spread that onto me.
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